Trees to 70m; trunk to 2. diam., straight; crown narrowly conic, becoming broad and flattened. Bark gray, distinctly platy, plates scaly. Branches nearly whorled, spreading-ascending; twigs slender, pale red-brown, rusty puberulent and slightly glandular (rarely glabrous), aging purple-brown or gray, smooth. Buds ellipsoid or cylindric, rust-colored, 0.4--0.5cm, slightly resinous. Leaves 5 per fascicle, spreading to ascending, persisting 3--4 years, 4--1 ´ 0.7--1mm, straight, slightly twisted, pliant, blue-green, abaxial surface without evident stomatal lines, adaxial surfaces with evident stomatal lines, margins finely serrulate, apex broadly to narrowly acute; sheath 1--1.5cm, shed early. Pollen cones ellipsoid, 10--15mm, yellow. Seed cones maturing in 2 years, shedding seeds and falling soon thereafter, clustered, pendent, symmetric, lance-cylindric to ellipsoid-cylindric before opening, broadly lanceoloid to ellipsoid-cylindric when open, 10--25cm, creamy brown to yellowish, without purple or gray tints, resinous, stalks to 2cm; umbo terminal, depressed. Seeds compressed, broadly obovoid-deltoid; body 5--7mm, red-brown; wing 2--2.5cm. 2 n =24.
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A soft pine. It can grow to a very large tree. It can be 50 m high and with a trunk 150 cm across. The leaves are needle like and evergreen. They stay on the tree fro 3-4 years. They are in bundles of 5 and are 5-10 cm long. They are slender and straight and triangular in cross section. They are soft and flexible and bluish green with lines of white dots. The edges are finely toothed. The seed cones are cylindrical and 10-30 cm long. They are slightly curved and hang down. There are 90-160 scales. These curve back when dry and do not have prickles. Soon after the cones mature, seeds are shed. Seed are brown and mottled. They are 5-7 mm long and with wings 18-26 mm long.
Occasionally slices of green cones are chewed. The seeds from partially roasted cones are eaten. The inner soft layer (cambium) between the wood and bark is eaten. A tea drink can be made by steeping the leaves in water. Caution: The tea should not be drunk in large amounts. It should not be drunk by pregnant women.
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